Golden Grooming: Best Brush for Golden Retriever (Top 5 and Reviews)

Giving your Golden Retriever regular brushing is important, it helps to make your dog stay healthy, neat, and tidy. The first step before you can brush your dog is to find the best brush for Golden Retriever and it won’t be easy since there are so many different brushes out there, each with different pros and cons. In this article, we are going to review some of the best dog brushes for Golden Retriever that we have personally tested.

**Below, you’ll find our more detailed reviews, but you can also click the links above to see current prices or read customer reviews on Amazon.

Golden Retrievers love nothing more than to run around and play, and when you mix this energy level with a long and wavy coat on a dog you are inevitably going to be dealing with a pretty dirty puppy more often than not.

Not only is your furry little family member going to be carrying around quite a bit of dirt and dander in their long coat, but if the long hair is left tangled up and on brushed it can pretty quickly turn into very painful mats of hair that are next to impossible to get out without hurting your animal.

Obviously, it’s a good idea to bring your golden retriever to a professional groomer every now and again. These experts are going to have everything on hand to give your pup a deep scrub and a thorough cleaning, trimming the hair and treating it with high-quality shampoos and conditioners so that your dog always looks and feels it’s very best.

But not everyone has the time (or the budget) to bring their golden retriever to the group are on a weekly basis. These folks do much better getting their hands on the best brush for golden retriever options on the market today, handling the heavy lifting of brushing out their dogs on a routine basis so that those painful mats of hair never get a chance to set up.

Finding the best brush for golden retrievers can be a bit of a tall task, though. Not all dog grooming brushes are created equally. To help guarantee you get your hands on only the best dog brush for Golden Retriever, we’ve put together this quick guide!

You Are Always Working With Two Different Coats

The most important thing you can remember when you are looking for a brush for your golden retriever is that you aren’t going to be brushing just a single coat like you will with most dogs.

The brush you get your hands on needs to be capable of brushing both of the different coats golden retrievers have, the guard coat as well as the undercoat.

The guard coat is the first layer of protection for your dog. This is the for the protects your dog from UV rays, repels water, and helps to keep dirt and debris off of your dog’s skin. The undercoat is much softer, much lighter, and much shorter than the guard coat and is responsible for insulating your dog during the winter and keeping them cool in the summer.

The best brush for golden retrievers is going to be something that can effectively penetrate through the guard coat and into the undercoat, which is where the overwhelming majority of shedding is going to take place. The short, soft, and delicate hairs are the ones that will routinely get tangled up into those painful mats we highlighted above – and you’ll want to work them out before they become a big problem.

You also want to look for a brush that’s going to help keep the natural oils of your dog moving throughout the coat. Just five minutes of brushing every other day can redistribute natural oils and nutrients for your dogs for evenly across their coat, making sure that nothing gets tangled up in the guard coat or the undercoat and helping your dog feel and look a lot better, too.

Features To Look For In The Best Brushes For Golden Retrievers

Brushes for golden retrievers are going to be strong, durable, and capable of moving through the guard coat without pulling or tailoring the undercoat, helping to keep your dog nice and clean as well as healthy.

You’ll want to look for features like:

Flexible brush pins

Flexible brush pins are going to have a lot of bendability to them, a critical feature that is going to help protect your dog’s skin from irritation when you are brushing them. Obviously, you don’t want brush pins that are limp linguine (you’ll need some strength to pull through hair and even things out), but a little bit of flexibility will definitely take the roughness out of some of the cheaper brushes on the market.

Smoothed over brush tips

Another big problem that cheap brushes for golden retrievers feature are razor-sharp brush tips that haven’t been smoothed over. This is going to be like dragging a ballpoint pen across the skin of your dog every single time you brush them, creating “brush burn” all over their bodies. It’s also going to make your dog very nervous about getting brushed, which makes things even more challenging.

A sturdy and solid handle

Because you might have to put a little bit of elbow grease behind your brushing, depending on how frequently your dog gets into the dirt as well as how frequently you brush your golden retriever out, you’re going to want a brush with a sturdy and solid handle is comfortable to hold in your hands. You want something that you can effortlessly control without getting any cramps, but you also want something that’s going to be able to stand up to a lot of usages without falling apart, too.

Bigger brush heads are better

Size really is everything when it comes to brushing out your golden retriever, and the larger brush heads are going to let you work over a bigger patch of your dog’s body while spending a lot less time brushing them out. Combine a big brush had with all of the other features we highlighted above and you’ll be off to the races with the best brush for golden retrievers for sure!

Different Types of Brushes for Golden Retriever

In our opinion, you just need these three different brushes to manage Golden Retriever coat: slicker brush, bristle brush, undercoat rake, and comb.

1. Slicker Brush

A slicker brush is a must-have tool for every Golden Retriever owner. The brush is comprised of fine bristles and dense pins. The fine bristles are designed to penetrate the guard coat and remove loose hair, dirt, debris, and distributing natural oils throughout the topcoat, while the dense pins help to remove mats and tangles.

2. Bristle Brush

A bristle brush is made out of nylon or boar hair and used for regular brushing when the coat is already in good shape. There are two different variations of bristle brushes: longer bristles, and stiffer bristles. Basically, longer bristles are used for longer fur, while stiffer bristles are used for Golden with shorter fur. The alternative to a bristle brush is a wire pin brush which has the same function.

3. Undercoat Rake

An undercoat rake is comprised of a long row or a few rows of firm metal teeth. This rake is used to detangle and clean the undercoat that slicker brush won’t be able to touch. This is especially useful during spring or autumn when your dog is shedding a lot.

4. Comb

And the last one is grooming comb or more specifically greyhound comb. Greyhound comb is used for finishing and clear any leftover mats and tangles.

Why are we against the de-shedding tool?

We don’t recommend Furminator de-shedding tool or any other similar de-shedding tools for Golden Retriever. Now, don’t get us wrong, Furminator de-shedding tool is a wonderful tool that can help your dog’s shedding season more bearable but it is not the right tool for Golden Retriever since it can cut through and damage the coats. However, we do recommend Furminator undercoat rake.

The Best Brush for Golden Retriever Reviews

The perfect brush to get all nasty mats out of your pet's fur. Hertzkos Slicker Brush gently removes loose hair, and eliminates tangles, knots, dander and trapped dirt. Works great on dogs and cats with all sizes and hair types!

Get rid of mats without hurting her - The bristles are fine bent wires designed to penetrate deep into the coat and is really able to groom the undercoat well without scratching your pet's skin!

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Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker brush is my top pick for the best brush for Golden Retriever. This brush removes stubborn mats, dead hair, tangles, dirt, and debris from your Golden’s coat and fur painlessly and effortlessly. The pins are designed in such a way to be long enough to penetrate your dog’s coat but safe enough from scratching the skin.

Another thing that we like is the easy-clean function that the brush provides. With the easy-clean function, manual cleaning of the pins can be done easily by just pressing the button, the pins retract, the hair falls away and you can easily clean the pad and remove the collected hair.

The brush is also designed with an ergonomic design to keep your hand comfortable and prevent hand and wrist strain even during a long grooming session.

SAFARI DOG SLICKER BRUSH: Works on all coat types and ideal for everyday use with small dogs, medium dogs or large dogs

GROOMING BRUSH: Stainless steel pins retract for easy clean up and features soft comfort grip handle for ease of use

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Safari Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is a great alternative to consider. One thing that we like about this slicker brush is its stainless steel pins. The stainless steel pins make it easy for removing mats, dead hair, and tangles without irritating your dog’s skin. This Safari brush also offers the same easy-to-clean functionality just like Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush, the retracting feature makes cleaning the pad easy.

This brush is also designed with comfort grip handle to make it stays comfortable even during an extended grooming session. Even though the brush is made from quality materials, the price is quite cheaper compared with other similar brands.

3. Best Bristle and Pin Brush Combo for Golden Retriever: GoPets – Professional Double Sided Pin & Bristle Brush for Short Medium or Long Hair

SPECIAL OFFER TODAY ONLY - BEST PIN & BRISTLE BRUSH ON AMAZON IS GREAT FOR ALL COATS - Double sided brush ensures you have the right comb regardless of if you have a pet with short, medium or long hair.

COMFORTABLE FOR YOU AND YOUR PET - Rounded ends on the pin brush makes it easy and comfortable for your dogs and cats and our non-slip silicone gel filled handle conforms to your hand no matter how you decide to hold it.

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GoPets Professional Double Sided Pin & Bristle Brush can be used for short, medium or long hair dog. If you have more than one dogs with different coats you can use this one brush for all. With this brush, you get two benefits at one price. The bristles are made from soft nylon to penetrate deep into the undercoat to remove a lot of hair and entangles stubborn mats without damaging your dog’s skin.

While the pin brush is designed with rounded pin design that can effectively lift out loose hair and debris, distribute natural oils, leaving a shiny, and healthy coat. The brush is also designed with a non-slip silicone gel-filled handle so you can comfortably hold it. No matter how you hold it, the brush will fit your grip well.

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Andis Pet Steel Grooming Comb is dual-sided comb with coarse and fine teeth, perfect for finishing and fluffing. We use this comb to find any leftover mats, tangles, loose hair, and dirt that we may have missed before. It is also great to stimulate skin and hair follicles.

5. Best Undercoat Rake for Golden Retriever: Furminator Rake for Dogs

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Furminator Dog Rake is the best tool to separate and untangle fur for double-coat dogs like Golden Retriever. This rake digs deep into the undercoat without damaging the guard coat fur. One thing that we like about this rake is the rounded pins that can fully rotate, these rotated rounded pins will allow you to groom your dog without worrying they will tug the fur. The blunt tips on the teeth are also useful to minimize skin irritation.

The head of the rake and teeth have shaped lines that follow your dog’s contour for maximum grooming. And the handle is designed with several ridge patterns that allow a secure grip no matter how you hold it.